…or what may or may not happen and what happens when and if it does. Antonin Scalia, the most senior Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), died this week aged 79. This means two important things: There is now a seat on the most important Judicial Bench in the world; and The Judiciary is now a live issue in the US … Continue reading A Scot on SCOTUS…
Full Opinion and Dissent The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) today handed down their decision in King v Burwell 576 US (2015), that they heard earlier this year. It was the last major challenge to the Affordable Care Act (or ‘ObamaCare’) coming through the court system, and the Justices voted 6-3 to uphold the Act as it was currently in force. And, the … Continue reading ObamaCare Forever (maybe)…
…or a post where I really want you to read the footnotes. My brother has put a poster up on my wall. I don’t like it, but if I take it down he’s just going to moan. So I probably won’t take it down. But you see, he doesn’t trust me – it’s against his very nature to trust me, so he wants to make sure that I can’t take it … Continue reading A Permanent Parliament…
…or ‘Scots Law Strikes Again’. In Scotland, as I’ve said before, the burden of a court case is divided up. The Jury are the most important people in a court room, but they are the keepers of the facts. I’ve argued the sometimes that can lead to problems, but it remains that the jury determines the facts of the case. But the Judge is important too, … Continue reading Lies, Damned Lies and Juristics…
…or a shameless self promotion Today, at approximately 5pm, the late Margo MacDonald’s Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill, adopted by Partick Harvie, will most likely be defeated at Stage 1. it’ll mark the third time in as many Parliaments that a bill that would legalise Assisted Suicide would fail to pass. This bill in particular has come in for pretty harsh criticism, and the Committee hasn’t been … Continue reading The 3rd Death of Assisted Suicide…
…or how I developed a new respect for the Law Society. Last November the Law Society of Scotland (or ‘LSoS’) released it’s Discussion Paper on the Future of Legal Aid in Scotland, setting out what changes it felt could be made. At the time I, amongst others, came out pretty resolutely against many of the reforms they suggested, since I felt they would damage the ability for the … Continue reading Re-Solving Legal Aid…
What would getting rid of the Human Rights Act mean? Would it achieve what proponents believe, and what would it mean in a Scottish Context? Continue reading Repealing the HRA…
There are some cases that you read and know, “This is important. This case fundamentally redefines how we understand the law.” This is not one of those cases. This is a case that you read and think to yourself, “How on earth did this end up at the Supreme Court”. It is, quite literally, about map scales. R (on the application of Trail Riders Fellowship … Continue reading Meanings and Maps…
…or a long story on a lot of not very much. It’s been a busy few weeks for me. In the past few weeks on the Diploma I’ve had 6 or 7 assessments, some written, some oral and some both. Street Law lessons have been great – and I was part of a ‘Day of Street Law’ at Kyle Academy in Ayr {Which I will be … Continue reading Refuge in Audacity?
…or “Constitutions on ketamine”. So, The Smith Commission. Remember that? One of the recommendations in its Final Report was that: “UK legislation will state that the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government are permanent institutions. ” [para 21] This was, in turn, translated into the Draft Scotland Clauses 2015 (what would become the Scotland Bill 2015) in s.1, which would insert the following into the Scotland Act 1998: (1A) … Continue reading ‘Higher’ Law…
Paul Cruikshank 